Abberley is a parish in rural West Worcestershire situated within the Malvern Hills District Council boundaries. It is an approximate rectangle, 6 miles long and up to a mile wide. The ridge of Abberley Hill forms the long eastern boundary.
Abberley Hill is formed of an overturned thrust fold of Silurian rocks capped with a breccia of Permian age. On the west side of the hill, the sandstones, clays and coal seams of The Wyre Forest coalfield provided employment in extraction of coal from the Middle Ages until the late 1920s and clay for making bricks and tiles from at least the late fifteenth century until the middle of the twentieth century. At the east end of the parish, the underlying clays and sandstones are of Devonian age.
The settlement pattern of Abberley like many parishes in Worcester dates from at least Saxon times and is and remains a dispersed one with houses grouped around farmsteads or greens, Town Farm and Elms Green attest to this style of settlement. Recent local history projects have identified evidence of both pre-historic people and Romans living in the area as well as continuous occupation from the Medieval period to the present day. Farming remains the dominant land use, orchards are far less plentiful than they had been but hops are now being grown again.
Within the parish, a hunting lodge and its associated deer park were given to a favourite of the William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings but at times reverted to the Crown, the last hereditary owners, the Bromleys, sold the estate in 1836. Abberley Lodge was demolished and a new house named Abberley Hall was built by the Moilliets, a Birmingham banking family, the estate was later owned by John Joseph Jones, an Oldham industrialist and banker. After 1910, the Jones heirs chose not to live in Abberley and from 1912, the building has housed Abberley Hall preparatory school. Former pupils include a number of MPs including Geoffrey Howe, later Lord Abaravon and Philip Dunne the sitting MP for South Shropshire. Abberley’s other grand house, The Elms was owned by the Sir Richard and Lady Brooke from 1926 until 1946. Sir Richard established a successful racing stables; King Salmon, his most famous horse won the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown in 1934 and twice came second in the Derby. Training race horses continues elsewhere in the parish to this day. The Elms later became one of the first English country house hotels and is still operates as a hotel and spa today.
Abberley has had a village school since 1717, the school has occupied its current building since 1859. Abberley Post Office was run from rooms in private houses until moving into the Village Stores, Abberley’s remaining village shop, in the twenty first century. The Manor Arms, the remaining pub, was originally called the Bromley Arms. Abberley retains two Church of England churches, but did also have a Methodist Chapel. Owen’s Garage continues to provide a car repair business, but no longer sells fuel or operates the local bus service as it did in the twentieth century.
Abberley at Easter – hope for the future 12 months on from the first lockdown and still urged to stay local, how about marking Easter and the hope of better things to come with a display or a sign in a window or front garden that people walking past could enjoy? If this […]
Covid-19 Memory Bank We set-up our Covid-19 memory bank as a way of marking our experiences during the pandemic so we could preserve and share them for future generations to learn and reflect on. So far we have had pictures of artwork, poems, blogs, videos and photos capturing everything from outdoor garden exercise and Zoom […]
Help accessing food and other support We have included some links on our website to signpost anyone who may need help accessing food, medicines, financial advice or other types of support: Hardship Advice and Support – a list of local and national organisations supporting anyone in need. This includes help with clothing, counselling, financial support, […]
Worcestershire Crowdfund Scheme A project workshop was held recently to mark the launch of the Worcestershire Crowdfund Scheme. This allows voluntary, community and charitable organisations to bid for funding from Worcestershire County Council, while being able to Crowdfund to raise the rest with contributions from the public, businesses and other grant giving bodies. If you […]
WORCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (C2276 The Village, Abberley) (Temporary Closure) Order 2021 CLICK HERE FOR ROAD CLOSURE PLAN Order made: to close that part of C2276 The Village from its junction with C2071 Abberley to its junction with U64407 Wynniatts Way. Reason: Building repair as a result of vehicle […]
PUBLIC NOTICE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 – SECTION 14 (AS AMENDED) WORCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL NOTICE OF THE CLOSURE OF C2071 ABBERLEY, ABBERLEY , WORCESTERSHIRE (“THE HIGHWAY”) Reason for restriction: Carriageway Patching. There is a need to close the highway in the following terms:- The effect of this Notice is that no vehicle shall proceed […]
South Worcestershire Development Plan Review Preferred Options Further Regulation 18 (III) Sustainability Appraisal Consultation, Monday 1 March to Monday 19 April 2021 The South Worcestershire Councils (SWC) i.e. Malvern Hills, Worcester City and Wychavon are undertaking a further Regulation 18 (III) consultation as part of the South Worcestershire Development Plan Review (SWDPR). Since the completion […]
WORCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (C2276 The Village, Abberley) (Temporary Closure) Order 2021 Order made: to close that part of C2276 The Village from its junction with C2071 Apostles Oak to its junction with A451 Dunley Reason: Carriageway Patching Exemptions: to permit access to any land or premises fronting the […]
OVERGROWN HEDGES AND TREES BORDERING ROADS AND PATHS Dear Parishioners, You may not be aware that there are strict rules governing the growth of trees and hedging bordering paths and roads. 1. There should be clearance of at least 2.2m (7’ 2’’) above a footway, pavement, or verge to allow pedestrians free passage. 2. Hedges/vegetation […]
